Big Boy steams through Lee’s Summit, to crowd’s delight. Here’s what makes it special

The whistle was loud enough to overtake the sounds of nearby sirens on a recent afternoon in downtown Lee’s Summit. With a column of steam rising in a blue sky, the Big Boy No. 4014 Steam Engine was making a statement.

Its size seemed to dwarf the Lee’s Summit Amtrak station building when it pulled through on Aug. 31.

The historic Union Pacific train is heading back to Cheyenne, Wyo., as part of a month-long tour that stretched all the way to Louisiana and Texas. On its way, it passed through Lee’s Summit, Independence and Kansas City’s Union Station.

At 132 feet long and 1.2 million pounds, the 80-year-old engine is the largest operating steam locomotive ever to travel the rails. Though Union Pacific retired it in 1961, it was restored as part of the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad completion in 2019.

When the announcement came that it would be passing through, local leaders were pleasantly startled.

“We were just as surprised as anyone else, but we’re happy to be one of the stops,” said Donnie Rodgers, executive director of Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street.

Rodgers wasn’t sure when or if this particular train might have come through Lee’s Summit during its 20-year time on the rails.

These days, the Lee’s Summit station sees two passenger trains for each direction on a daily basis, as well as many freight trains passing through town.

“This is very, very rare. This is unique. We’re excited to see it come through downtown,” Rodgers said.

When it first traveled around the country, the Big Boy had a following, complete with children’s books written about it, according to Mike Jaixen, senior manager of communications for Union Pacific.

After it spent about 50 years as a museum piece, Union Pacific bought the engine back in 2014 to restore it to working order. That meant completely dismantling it to see what was still good and what wasn’t.

“We looked at each part, determined if it was in good shape or worn out and completely restored it. We had to re-manufacture and cast any replacement parts we thought were needed,” Jaixen said. “Like a restored Model T or classic car, you’re not finding a lot of parts available. You have to work to re-manufacture them.”

At each stop, a special steam engine crew, alongside a local crew, services the locomotive, doing tasks such as lubricating bearings. Modern trains that run on diesel don’t need such constant maintenance.

As cool as it might look outside, inside it’s incredibly hot.

“If you think it feels like 90 or 100 degrees outside, in that cab, the heat is very intense,” Jaixen said.

At each stop, the locomotive has attracted crowds of hundreds and even thousands. Some people even follow it from stop to stop, seeing it in one town, then driving to the next to get another look, Jaixen said.

Future tours are definitely on the to-do list for Union Pacific, but Lee’s Summit might not be on the route next time. This particular tour only hit 10 of the 23 states where the company sends trains, so it’s likely they’ll shoot for places that didn’t get to see the Big Boy for next time.